Portable Ebook Reader

Jointech (a tech company based out of Hong Kong) have recently announced that they have a new ebook reader (known as the JE100). It’s a 7-inch device that has a COLOR LCD touchscreen rather than an e-ink display.

This is the first non-e-ink portable ebook reader that we’ve had the chance to discuss, so we’re quite excited. Although e-ink seems to be the way of the future for electronic reading devices, it’s still nice to see competing technologies

The JE100 uses Windows CE 5.0, and has the following capabilities and specifications:

• Comes with Mobipocket Reader, MSReader and eReader support
• Can play video and audio files
• Ability to view and edit Microsoft Office documents
• 3-6 hour battery life
• 400 MHz processor (slower than both the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX)
• 128 MB internal flash storage
• 64 MB RAM
• Up to 4GB external storage
• Two USB ports (to plug in accessories like keyboards or for hooking the device up to a PC)
• Built-in speaker and audio-out port

Those specs seem fairly mediocre, and the battery life is definitely weak. It seems like more of a netbook or mini-PC than a portable ebook reader. I guess we’ll have to wait until people start buying and reviewing it until we can make a better-informed decision.

One thing’s for sure, though…it definitely looks sleek!

Plastic Logic recently demoed their portable ebook Reader at the Wall Street Journal’s All Things D conference near San Diego. They surprised a lot of attendees by giving everyone a *free* Plastic Logic Reader. This device won’t be available to the general public until Jan 2010, but apparently Plastic is determined to build the hype early.

Here’s a video showing a demo of the Reader at the conference:

And here’s a list of some of the features that we were able to gather from different sources:

• A screen that’s larger than 10″ - wow!
• Extremely light-weight and thin
• Touchscreen (like the Sony Reader PRS-700)
• 3G wireless capability (like the Amazon Kindle 2 and Kindle DX)
• The devices will be able to “beam” documents back and forth between each other (we’re guessing via BlueTooth or maybe IR)
• WiFi support
• Ability to scribble and add annotations
• Very long battery life
• Native support for many Microsoft Documents and PDF files

The price is currently unknown but many sources are saying it will likely be more expensive than the Amazon Kindle DX - that means greater than $500!

The target market is reportedly “mobile business professionals” according to Plastic Logic’s Director of Marketing, Maureen Mellon. Their CEO went on to say, “Everything is designed for the business user, and business users require a lot of different types of content. It’s really not about books at all.

Hmmm…sounds like it’s designed more to be a business document, magazine, and newspaper reader, rather than for novels or ebooks.

One apparent flaw that the media is jumping all over, is that it takes 4 seconds to turn pages, although in the video above you can clearly see that it takes less than that. Plus, the public release isn’t for 8 months so I’m not sure why everyone would make such a big deal out of a work-of-progress.

For more info on the Plastic Logic Reader:

• A detailed article - TG Daily
• Many, many pictures - LaptopMag

Portable Ebook Readers, also known as e-book devices, are used to display electronic (e) books. These devices are portable (well of course!) and typically have a long battery life. Most PDAs can be categorized as e-book readers because of their ability to display text on a screen. (note - this site is devoted primarily to dedicated ebook devices; there’s plenty of other sites out there for PDAs )

E-book Devices are becoming more and more popular, and make great gifts for friends and family. Some of the reasons for their increasing popularity are:

• More and more magazines and books are becoming available in e-book format (such as PDF files)
• Companies and consumers are embracing the movement to “green” technologies, and these devices are a great way to conserve paper (trees)
• The Ebook Reader technology is constantly improving, and devices are getting thinner, lighter, use less power and are easier-to-use
• Prices are coming down as more units are being manufactured at a lower cost